Allen Works at the Alaska Fair

Allen sends in his experience of working at the Alaska fair in August:

"Randy and I spent a week in Alaska in early August. Randy was hired to judge the Fairbanks Fair, so we decided to make a vacation out of his judging assignment.

The fair hosted three judges, and hired the Butlers from Ohio to judge as well. Working on my license, I jumped at the opportunity to work with veteran Judge #401, Al Butler. Being a Fair, a lot of time was available for slow judging and teaching. It was a great experience, and I got to work with a Belgian Hare with Mr. Belgian Hare, Al Butler!

I did not know Al too well, but was anxious to work with a veteran Judge. Not to mention, Al is from the midwest, and opening my eyes to a regional views of rabbit judging is helpful. Al Butler has raised many, many breeds; but, he is most famous for his Belgian Hares and Tort Dutch. You can imagine how excited I was to find out that one Belgian Hare was entered in the show! Al worked with me for a long time, teaching me different methods of posing these delicate, beautiful rabbits. Learning how to properly handle Hares is far more important than pretending to look like one can pose one! My time with Al was outstanding, and I was honored to have worked with him. Al and his wife are retiring their licenses at the end of this year."